For this first time in WWE History, the fate of the superstars is in the hands of the fans. The Raw-exclusive Tuesday PPV saw the fans vote online on who they wanted to see challenge champions and what type of matches they wanted to see the superstars compete in. Was the first Taboo Tuesday a success or a flop?
Match 1: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Chris Jericho (c) vs. Shelton Benjamin
Aside from a couple, the list of guys that fans had to choose from to face Chris Jericho was pretty laughable. Shelton Benjamin ended up beating out the guys and scored an opportunity. Jericho has gone on to mention that he didn't even know who he was facing until it got revealed as he was waiting in the ring. At this point, Benjamin looked to be getting molded as a main eventer as he scored big wins over Triple H on Monday Night Raw. Crowd was certainly behind him here in a pretty good opening contest that saw him pick up the win and the Intercontinental Championship in the process. Great show of sportsmanship afterwards as Jericho handed the championship to Benjamin.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin
Rating: ***
Match 2: WWE Women's Championship - Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal - Trish Stratus (c) vs. Jazz vs. Nidia vs. Gail Kim vs. Molly Holly vs. Victoria vs. Stacy Keibler
The fans voted on what attire they wanted to see the Divas wear and it was decided that they would dress up as schoolgirls. Just think of the WWE doing this in 2017. Really dumb battle royal with Trish Stratus last eliminating Molly Holly to win and retain her title. Please give me my time back.
Winner: Trish Stratus
Rating: 1/4*
Match 3: Weapon of Choice - Gene Snitsky vs. Kane
Poor Kane, always wrapped up in some of the dumbest possible storylines imaginable. The fans had the options of choosing which weapon would be legal for the match in a lead pipe, a steel chair or a steel chain. However, this proved to be pointless when Gene Snitsky brought in a steel chair and started hitting Kane with it. Prior to that, Snitsky was beating down Kane with some of the lamest chain shots you could ever imagine. Snitsky was able to win the match after placing the chair between Kane's neck and crushing it off the top rope. Blood starting pouring out of Kane's neck, nice touch. Afterwards, Kane gets stretchered to the back before Snitsky makes another appearance and drops Kane to the floor. Not a bad match and Jim Ross on commentary was brilliant in making this seem more serious with the ridiculous storyline hanging around in the background.
Winner: Gene Snitsky
Rating: **3/4
Match 4: Eric Bischoff vs. Eugene
The fans are able to decided the punishment for the loser with the choices being the loser being their servant, the loser wearing a dress or the loser getting shaved bald. You can just pretty much imagine what this match was... Eric Bischoff beating up Eugene for a little bit before Eugene gets angry and hits a leg drop on his uncle to score the win. However, Jonathon Coachman runs down and basically tosses out Bischoff's penalty until Mr. McMahon comes out and forces Bischoff to get his head shaved by Eugene while also forcing Coachman to wear the dress. Bischoff getting his head shaved was funny for a quick second but this shtick got old pretty fast.
Winner: Eugene
Rating: 1/2*
Match 5: WWE World Tag Team Championship - La Resistance (c) vs. Chris Benoit & Edge
Since Shawn Michaels won the vote to challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship later on, the other two nominees in Chris Benoit and Edge were then forced to team with each other to challenge La Resistance for the World Tag Team Championships. Always thought that the team of La Resistance were fairly overlooked and much of that had to do with the way they were booked, like chumps. The two teams had a pretty strong match here with Edge leaving his partner high and dry before driving out of the arena. However, Benoit was able to lock in a Crippler Crossface on Rob Conway to seal the win for himself and Edge. Another example of La Resistance being booked like chumps in what was a pretty damn good match.
Winners: Chris Benoit & Edge
Rating: ***1/4
Match 6: Lingerie Pillow Fight - Carmella vs. Christy
Wonderful! A second Divas match for the night. The fans vote to see these two in a lingerie pillow fight because there really wasn't any other option. The two get dressed in front of the crowd behind dressing rooms that showed their shadows. Afterwards, they fought int the ring with pillows before Christy tackled Carmella down and pinned her for the win. If I could rate this any lower, I would. That is two 1/4* Divas matches for the night. Wow.
Winner: Christy
Rating: 1/4*
Match 7: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Triple H (c) vs. Shawn Michaels
Although Shawn Michaels was nursing a knee injury, the fans still selected him to challenge his old partner in Triple H. These two faced off numerous times throughout the year for the World Heavyweight Championship and it looks as if the fans didn't mind seeing it again. With that being said, a really good portion of the match just saw Triple H dominating handily and focusing on that injured knee of Michaels. I get that they wanted to do something different since they had so many matches throughout the course of the year, but it just didn't make for a very exciting match. Finally, Michaels is able to hit a Sweet Chin Music on Triple H but a distraction from Batista leads to the referee turning his back on Edge running in and hitting a Spear on Michaels before The Game was able to cover for the win. Predictable winner along with a dull match makes this the weakest match between the two that I have ever watched. Very disappointing considering they could really have had something special here.
Winner: Triple H
Rating: **1/4
Match 8: Steel Cage - Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton
Loved the feud these two were having headed up to this match with Ric Flair feeling like Randy Orton was disrespecting him with his comments about being Triple H's bitch. Although this felt pretty short, they definitely made the most out of it and managed to tell a good story out of it, especially with the blood that poured out of both men. They were bleeding buckets and it certainly added another layer to the match. Great action throughout and fun to see the desperateness of Flair as he even pulled out the brass knuckles and a steel chair. However, a sweet RKO on a bloody Flair was enough for Orton to capture the win to close out the night. Afterwards, the two embrace each other as the blood continues to run down their faces.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Easily one of the worst PPVs of the year. The Divas matches were just plain terrible and everything else was either good or just acceptable. If there was a saving grace for the show, it was the main event which isn't even really a good enough reason for me to go back and watch. Very disappointing start ot a PPV concept that would only last one more year. Would be interesting to see WWE bring this back for something on The WWE Network or even an episode of SmackDown Live.
Rating: 4/10
Friday, October 27, 2017
Friday, October 13, 2017
WWE TLC 2013 Review
The WWE was billing the main event between John Cena and Randy Orton
for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as the biggest match in the
history of the industry. However, fan-favorite Daniel Bryan was all the
Houston crowd could care for. Was the 2013 edition of TLC still able to
deliver?
Match 1: CM Punk vs. The Shield
The last PPV review I did was Hell in a Cell 2012, a PPV that infamously featured a match pitting CM Punk against Ryback in a match Punk later ranted about on a podcast. Another match he talked about was this one, a handicap match against The Shield where he was instructed by so many people to make Roman Reigns look good. Let's just cut to chase... why exactly did Punk go over here? They had a fun little match here that saw Reigns miss a Spear and damage his eye on the outside as he landed on JBL's chair. Punk took advantage of the injury and dissected The Shield before Reigns accidentally Speared Dean Ambrose for Punk to pick up the win. I guess if you're going to have Punk go over the WWE's hottest commodity, then this is the way to do it. This really did no help for anyone.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: **3/4
Match 2: WWE Divas Championship - AJ Lee (c) vs. Natalya
Natalya looks to finally recapture the Divas Championship from AJ Lee is in on a tear. Just a pretty short Divas match here with AJ Lee using Natalya's hair as leverage to score the win. Nothing special here, very quick and to the point like most Divas matches. Fans and commentators virtually had no interest in this.
Winner: AJ Lee
Rating: *
Match 3: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Big E Langston (c) vs. Damien Sandow
After losing his World Heavyweight Championship match against John Cena, Damien Sandow looks to rebuild from where he started against Big E Langston. Much like the previous match and much like you will see later on, this was another filler of a match. Decent action from the two before Langston hits his Big Ending finisher to score the W. Both of these guys would later go on to switch up their characters the following year or so and go on to do much better things. After watching this, you could just tell that they needed a character change.
Winner: Big E Langston
Rating: **
Match 4: WWE Tag Team Championships - Elimination - Cody Rhodes & Goldust (c) vs. The Real Americans vs. Rey Mysterio & The Big Show vs. RybAxel
Almost a shame to look back at this and see how bad Cody Rhodes was booked, no reason why this dude never got a real push as a singles competitor. However, he did make a pretty nice pairing with his brother in Goldust. Agree with me or not, but I dig the teams they assembled here and their styles meshed well against each other for a fast and fun match. Rhodes was able to hit a Cross Rhodes on Mysterio to finish the match and retain the titles for his team. Really strong match here after the first three matches left a sour taste in my mouth. Lots of cool spots and the addition of The Big Show made things that much more exciting. The two teams then share an awkward exchange of sportsmanship afterwards.
Winners: Cody Rhodes & Goldust
Rating: ***3/4
Match 5: Brodus Clay vs. R-Truth
Can you imagine paying about 50 bucks for this? This might be a high for a WWE PPV of fillers on a card. Brodus Clay dominated this match pretty thoroughly until he and Sweet T (Albert) started arguing at ringside because Clay was being a little too stiff with Truth and not taking the match seriously. Finally, Sweet T leaves Clay before The Funkadactyles left right after. R-Truth is able to quickly roll Clay up for the win. Again, can you believe this was on PPV?
Winner: R-Truth
Rating: 3/4*
Match 6: No Disqualification - Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz
The two got into a little bit of a scuffle prior to the start of the PPV and a match was made for tonight with no disqualification rules. How many times I've seen this match before? No idea, but it certainly feels like it's up there. The match was as basic as you could imagine with these two and the crowd began getting restless at the end as they started to chant "boring." The Miz removes the padding from a corner of a turnbuckle before it backfires on him as Kofi Kingston launches Miz into it before getting knocked out with a Trouble in Paradise. As basic as you could imagine, passable match but nothing acceptable for a PPV.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: **1/4
Match 7: Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family
The crowd was calling for Daniel Bryan the whole night and they finally got him... in a handicap against The Wyatt Family. Almost a shame that Bryan was booked into a corner here, crowd was so hot for him but it just wouldn't make any sense for him to win against the hot team in The Wyatt Family. Then again, CM Punk did beat The Shield in the first match of the night. Regardless, the match was fairly enjoyable for what it was but watching The Wyatt Family beat down Bryan for a good portion of the match got pretty old fast. Bryan, however, almost had the match won until Bray Wyatt came into play to hit a Sister Abigail on Bryan to seal the win for his team. Decent match that would set up a few more matches with Bryan against The Wyatt Family in the next couple months, serves its purpose but still not the best way to go about it.
Winners: The Wyatt Family
Rating: **3/4
Match 8: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - TLC - Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena (c)
This is Randy Orton vs. John Cena going against each other on PPV for about the 105th time. Of course, this is a unification match for Randy Orton's WWE Championship and John Cena's World Heavyweight Championship. I have reviewed nearly all their matches against each other so trying to differentiate each one becomes increasingly harder. I had trouble getting into the match, the action for a TLC match was just too slow for me to sink my teeth into. The table spots seemed forced and the severity of the match didn't seem as big as they made this match out to be, especially when JBL said that we will remember this match in 100 years from now. Plus, I didn't believe any of the spots that saw the two trying to grab the belts. And I know it's a ladder match and everyone always tends to climb the ladder slowly... but this was ridiculous! The ending saw Orton handcuff Cena to the bottom rope as Cena ridiculously tried to break free. Finally, he unscrewed the bottom turnbuckle before climbing up the ladder to meet Orton. Orton then tugged on the rope that was still tied to Cena and yanked him off the ladder as he crashed onto a table set up in the corner. Or at least tried to, Cena barely hit the table and sold the spot as if he just hit his face on it. Anyway, Orton then climbs the ladder and retrieves the belts to win. Afterwards, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon & Triple H of The Authority come out to congratulate Orton and raise his hand. Interesting way to close the year with the two established stars of the company continuing to be the focal points of the company. Let's see how that worked out come WrestleMania...
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Another very poor PPV offering from the WWE which really puts into perspective how the WWE Network has certainly become a blessing. Aside from maybe the tag match and the main event, every match on the card was either bad or just bland. While I love having TLC as a concept for a PPV, it doesn't mean anything if it can't deliver on its promises.
Rating: 4.75/10
Match 1: CM Punk vs. The Shield
The last PPV review I did was Hell in a Cell 2012, a PPV that infamously featured a match pitting CM Punk against Ryback in a match Punk later ranted about on a podcast. Another match he talked about was this one, a handicap match against The Shield where he was instructed by so many people to make Roman Reigns look good. Let's just cut to chase... why exactly did Punk go over here? They had a fun little match here that saw Reigns miss a Spear and damage his eye on the outside as he landed on JBL's chair. Punk took advantage of the injury and dissected The Shield before Reigns accidentally Speared Dean Ambrose for Punk to pick up the win. I guess if you're going to have Punk go over the WWE's hottest commodity, then this is the way to do it. This really did no help for anyone.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: **3/4
Match 2: WWE Divas Championship - AJ Lee (c) vs. Natalya
Natalya looks to finally recapture the Divas Championship from AJ Lee is in on a tear. Just a pretty short Divas match here with AJ Lee using Natalya's hair as leverage to score the win. Nothing special here, very quick and to the point like most Divas matches. Fans and commentators virtually had no interest in this.
Winner: AJ Lee
Rating: *
Match 3: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Big E Langston (c) vs. Damien Sandow
After losing his World Heavyweight Championship match against John Cena, Damien Sandow looks to rebuild from where he started against Big E Langston. Much like the previous match and much like you will see later on, this was another filler of a match. Decent action from the two before Langston hits his Big Ending finisher to score the W. Both of these guys would later go on to switch up their characters the following year or so and go on to do much better things. After watching this, you could just tell that they needed a character change.
Winner: Big E Langston
Rating: **
Match 4: WWE Tag Team Championships - Elimination - Cody Rhodes & Goldust (c) vs. The Real Americans vs. Rey Mysterio & The Big Show vs. RybAxel
Almost a shame to look back at this and see how bad Cody Rhodes was booked, no reason why this dude never got a real push as a singles competitor. However, he did make a pretty nice pairing with his brother in Goldust. Agree with me or not, but I dig the teams they assembled here and their styles meshed well against each other for a fast and fun match. Rhodes was able to hit a Cross Rhodes on Mysterio to finish the match and retain the titles for his team. Really strong match here after the first three matches left a sour taste in my mouth. Lots of cool spots and the addition of The Big Show made things that much more exciting. The two teams then share an awkward exchange of sportsmanship afterwards.
Winners: Cody Rhodes & Goldust
Rating: ***3/4
Match 5: Brodus Clay vs. R-Truth
Can you imagine paying about 50 bucks for this? This might be a high for a WWE PPV of fillers on a card. Brodus Clay dominated this match pretty thoroughly until he and Sweet T (Albert) started arguing at ringside because Clay was being a little too stiff with Truth and not taking the match seriously. Finally, Sweet T leaves Clay before The Funkadactyles left right after. R-Truth is able to quickly roll Clay up for the win. Again, can you believe this was on PPV?
Winner: R-Truth
Rating: 3/4*
Match 6: No Disqualification - Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz
The two got into a little bit of a scuffle prior to the start of the PPV and a match was made for tonight with no disqualification rules. How many times I've seen this match before? No idea, but it certainly feels like it's up there. The match was as basic as you could imagine with these two and the crowd began getting restless at the end as they started to chant "boring." The Miz removes the padding from a corner of a turnbuckle before it backfires on him as Kofi Kingston launches Miz into it before getting knocked out with a Trouble in Paradise. As basic as you could imagine, passable match but nothing acceptable for a PPV.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: **1/4
Match 7: Daniel Bryan vs. The Wyatt Family
The crowd was calling for Daniel Bryan the whole night and they finally got him... in a handicap against The Wyatt Family. Almost a shame that Bryan was booked into a corner here, crowd was so hot for him but it just wouldn't make any sense for him to win against the hot team in The Wyatt Family. Then again, CM Punk did beat The Shield in the first match of the night. Regardless, the match was fairly enjoyable for what it was but watching The Wyatt Family beat down Bryan for a good portion of the match got pretty old fast. Bryan, however, almost had the match won until Bray Wyatt came into play to hit a Sister Abigail on Bryan to seal the win for his team. Decent match that would set up a few more matches with Bryan against The Wyatt Family in the next couple months, serves its purpose but still not the best way to go about it.
Winners: The Wyatt Family
Rating: **3/4
Match 8: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - TLC - Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena (c)
This is Randy Orton vs. John Cena going against each other on PPV for about the 105th time. Of course, this is a unification match for Randy Orton's WWE Championship and John Cena's World Heavyweight Championship. I have reviewed nearly all their matches against each other so trying to differentiate each one becomes increasingly harder. I had trouble getting into the match, the action for a TLC match was just too slow for me to sink my teeth into. The table spots seemed forced and the severity of the match didn't seem as big as they made this match out to be, especially when JBL said that we will remember this match in 100 years from now. Plus, I didn't believe any of the spots that saw the two trying to grab the belts. And I know it's a ladder match and everyone always tends to climb the ladder slowly... but this was ridiculous! The ending saw Orton handcuff Cena to the bottom rope as Cena ridiculously tried to break free. Finally, he unscrewed the bottom turnbuckle before climbing up the ladder to meet Orton. Orton then tugged on the rope that was still tied to Cena and yanked him off the ladder as he crashed onto a table set up in the corner. Or at least tried to, Cena barely hit the table and sold the spot as if he just hit his face on it. Anyway, Orton then climbs the ladder and retrieves the belts to win. Afterwards, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon & Triple H of The Authority come out to congratulate Orton and raise his hand. Interesting way to close the year with the two established stars of the company continuing to be the focal points of the company. Let's see how that worked out come WrestleMania...
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Another very poor PPV offering from the WWE which really puts into perspective how the WWE Network has certainly become a blessing. Aside from maybe the tag match and the main event, every match on the card was either bad or just bland. While I love having TLC as a concept for a PPV, it doesn't mean anything if it can't deliver on its promises.
Rating: 4.75/10
Monday, October 9, 2017
WWE Hell in a Cell 2012 Review
The 2012 installment of WWE's annual Hell in a Cell event took place
in Atlanta as the Ryback train looked to steamroll over CM Punk for the
WWE Championship.
Match 1: Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton
Pretty big match at the time to kick off the show, especially considering how WWE was really high on Alberto Del Rio during his initial run the first few years in. He looked pretty dominant here in his match against Randy Orton as more than none, this match saw Del Rio handling Orton pretty easily. However, a couple mistakes on Del Rio's part led to a very sweet RKO from Orton. Del Rio looked to kick Orton's skull in the corner but Orton quickly got out of the way and hit an RKO as Del Rio was descending down. Good opening match that saw Orton pick up a needed win but didn't make Del Rio look bad in the process.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***1/4
Match 2: Tag Team Championships - Team Hell No (c) vs. Team Rhodes Scholars
Got to love the odd pairing of Daniel Bryan and Kane. And who could ever forget the great pairing of Cody Rhodes and Damian Sandow? Right? Right? Anyway, this match was more of a story arch for the growing pains between Bryan and Kane. The action for the match itself was fine but it never really shifted itself into a high gear, but the crowd still enjoyed it either way. Kane beats down Team Rhodes Scholars himself in the corner which calls for the referee to end the match in a disqualification. Afterwards, the two argue as Bryan storms off with his belt. Feel like this should have been a result for a match on Raw instead of on PPV, would it really hurt to have Team Hell No to just go over in a fishy finish?
Winners: Team Rhodes Scholars
Rating: **
Match 3: Intercontinental Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. The Miz
Talk about a filler of the century featuring the decade's two biggest midcarders. Is that an accurate statement to make? Thankfully, the two were able to make career makeovers a few years later. Still don't think The Miz has contended for a world championship since losing it in 2011. If someone could fill me in, that would be splendid. Another pretty standard match here that saw Miz focus on Kofi Kingston's knee throughout the match before Kingston was able to fight through the pain and hit a Trouble in Paradise for the victory. I'm not really too sure what to say here because let's be honest, you've seen this show about a million times on Raw.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: **1/4
Match 4: United States Championship - Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. Justin Gabriel
Was always a fan of Justin Gabriel, very fun to watch in the ring but for whatever reason, he just couldn't click with the fans that well. Antonio Cesaro was still in his introductory stages of his career in the WWE but he captured the United States Championship fairly quickly, but it was really the title that was making him at the time instead of him making the title. Some good action here that saw Cesaro hit a huge European uppercut on the outside to a diving Gabriel before hitting a Neutralizer in the ring to pick up the win and retain the title. Another decent and pretty forgettable match on the card.
Winner: Antonio Cesaro
Rating: **1/2
Match 5: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. The Primetime Players
No wonder Rey Mysterio ultimately decided to leave the company, this dude got totally lost in the scuffle at this point in his career. Would love to see him back within the company one day, though. Crowd really couldn't care less about anyone in the ring aside from Mysterio as the pacing of the match wasn't helping any matters. Sin Cara just can't seem to connect to the audience the way Mysterio does. Mysterio gets a hot tag in and hits a 619 on Darren Young to score the win for his team.
Winners: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara
Rating: *3/4
Match 6: World Heavyweight Championship - Sheamus (c) vs. The Big Show
With this match actually being the co-main event, it really screams how slim the WWE roster was during the fall of 2012, or at least how this PPV makes it look out to be. The Big Show had a little bit of a career revitalization within the past couple years and certainly earned his spot here against Sheamus for the gold. These two brought the goods to the show as the nearfalls after a Chokeslam, a White Noise, a KO Punch, and even a Brogue Kick had the kick going in a frenzy. Big Show doesn't always match up well with his opponents but he certainly did match up well here against the brawling style of Sheamus. Sheamus wanted to hit another Brogue Kick and looked to have the match sealed in the bag but The Big Show hits a KO Punch out of nowhere to get the win! Awesome match and very cool to see Show hold a major title once again after really stepping up his game. Great match to lead into the main event.
Winner: The Big Show
Rating: ****1/4
Match 7: Divas Championship - Eve (c) vs. Layla vs. Kaitlyn
I'm a huge fan of all three ladies in the ring but even I can't defend this one. Heck, the commentators could not care less for this since they were more interested in making jokes. Hard to get into the action when it was just so sloppy and the crowd was just sitting on their hands. Eve retains her title after hitting a Swanton Bomb on Kaitlyn who was covering Layla. As a matter of fact, I think she even missed her target. Regardless, she gets the win and we get to move on.
Winner: Kaitlyn
Rating: 1/2*
Match 8: WWE Championship - Hell in a Cell - CM Punk (c) vs. Ryback
The fall of 2012 was the pinnacle of Ryback's popularity as he was inserted into the main event position here against CM Punk for the richest prize in the company. Of course, this is the first of two infamous Hell in a Cell matches that Punk would later complain about on a podcast concerning Ryback's carelessness and how stiff he was throughout the matches. The match itself was as underwhelming as you could imagine, Atlanta isn't always the rowdiest of crowds and they didn't really help matters for this match along with much of the whole card. Punk managed to squeak in a nice amount of offense but Ryback looked to be too much for him and as Ryback tried to end the match with a Shell Shocked, the referee stood in his way. The referee, who later was revealed to be Brad Maddox, low blowed Ryback and assisted Punk in making a fast count for the win. Afterwards, Punk and Maddox try to exit but Ryback stops them and destroys the two in their tracks. He then took chased Punk to the top of the cage and hit a Shell Shocked to close the show. I guess if they were going to do a funny finish for the match, this was the way to go considering Ryback was so hot and they didn't want him to eat the pin. Even still, a very bland main event for a pretty bland night.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: **1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The event featured a couple bright spots with the World Heavyweight Championship match standing out the most. However, the rest of the card and the main event did not deliver on any promises. As I mentioned earlier, the fall of 2012 saw a very slim roster for the WWE until The Shield would make their debut a month later. October PPVs always seem to hit a rut for me and this is no different.
Rating: 5/10
Match 1: Alberto Del Rio vs. Randy Orton
Pretty big match at the time to kick off the show, especially considering how WWE was really high on Alberto Del Rio during his initial run the first few years in. He looked pretty dominant here in his match against Randy Orton as more than none, this match saw Del Rio handling Orton pretty easily. However, a couple mistakes on Del Rio's part led to a very sweet RKO from Orton. Del Rio looked to kick Orton's skull in the corner but Orton quickly got out of the way and hit an RKO as Del Rio was descending down. Good opening match that saw Orton pick up a needed win but didn't make Del Rio look bad in the process.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***1/4
Match 2: Tag Team Championships - Team Hell No (c) vs. Team Rhodes Scholars
Got to love the odd pairing of Daniel Bryan and Kane. And who could ever forget the great pairing of Cody Rhodes and Damian Sandow? Right? Right? Anyway, this match was more of a story arch for the growing pains between Bryan and Kane. The action for the match itself was fine but it never really shifted itself into a high gear, but the crowd still enjoyed it either way. Kane beats down Team Rhodes Scholars himself in the corner which calls for the referee to end the match in a disqualification. Afterwards, the two argue as Bryan storms off with his belt. Feel like this should have been a result for a match on Raw instead of on PPV, would it really hurt to have Team Hell No to just go over in a fishy finish?
Winners: Team Rhodes Scholars
Rating: **
Match 3: Intercontinental Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. The Miz
Talk about a filler of the century featuring the decade's two biggest midcarders. Is that an accurate statement to make? Thankfully, the two were able to make career makeovers a few years later. Still don't think The Miz has contended for a world championship since losing it in 2011. If someone could fill me in, that would be splendid. Another pretty standard match here that saw Miz focus on Kofi Kingston's knee throughout the match before Kingston was able to fight through the pain and hit a Trouble in Paradise for the victory. I'm not really too sure what to say here because let's be honest, you've seen this show about a million times on Raw.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: **1/4
Match 4: United States Championship - Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. Justin Gabriel
Was always a fan of Justin Gabriel, very fun to watch in the ring but for whatever reason, he just couldn't click with the fans that well. Antonio Cesaro was still in his introductory stages of his career in the WWE but he captured the United States Championship fairly quickly, but it was really the title that was making him at the time instead of him making the title. Some good action here that saw Cesaro hit a huge European uppercut on the outside to a diving Gabriel before hitting a Neutralizer in the ring to pick up the win and retain the title. Another decent and pretty forgettable match on the card.
Winner: Antonio Cesaro
Rating: **1/2
Match 5: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. The Primetime Players
No wonder Rey Mysterio ultimately decided to leave the company, this dude got totally lost in the scuffle at this point in his career. Would love to see him back within the company one day, though. Crowd really couldn't care less about anyone in the ring aside from Mysterio as the pacing of the match wasn't helping any matters. Sin Cara just can't seem to connect to the audience the way Mysterio does. Mysterio gets a hot tag in and hits a 619 on Darren Young to score the win for his team.
Winners: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara
Rating: *3/4
Match 6: World Heavyweight Championship - Sheamus (c) vs. The Big Show
With this match actually being the co-main event, it really screams how slim the WWE roster was during the fall of 2012, or at least how this PPV makes it look out to be. The Big Show had a little bit of a career revitalization within the past couple years and certainly earned his spot here against Sheamus for the gold. These two brought the goods to the show as the nearfalls after a Chokeslam, a White Noise, a KO Punch, and even a Brogue Kick had the kick going in a frenzy. Big Show doesn't always match up well with his opponents but he certainly did match up well here against the brawling style of Sheamus. Sheamus wanted to hit another Brogue Kick and looked to have the match sealed in the bag but The Big Show hits a KO Punch out of nowhere to get the win! Awesome match and very cool to see Show hold a major title once again after really stepping up his game. Great match to lead into the main event.
Winner: The Big Show
Rating: ****1/4
Match 7: Divas Championship - Eve (c) vs. Layla vs. Kaitlyn
I'm a huge fan of all three ladies in the ring but even I can't defend this one. Heck, the commentators could not care less for this since they were more interested in making jokes. Hard to get into the action when it was just so sloppy and the crowd was just sitting on their hands. Eve retains her title after hitting a Swanton Bomb on Kaitlyn who was covering Layla. As a matter of fact, I think she even missed her target. Regardless, she gets the win and we get to move on.
Winner: Kaitlyn
Rating: 1/2*
Match 8: WWE Championship - Hell in a Cell - CM Punk (c) vs. Ryback
The fall of 2012 was the pinnacle of Ryback's popularity as he was inserted into the main event position here against CM Punk for the richest prize in the company. Of course, this is the first of two infamous Hell in a Cell matches that Punk would later complain about on a podcast concerning Ryback's carelessness and how stiff he was throughout the matches. The match itself was as underwhelming as you could imagine, Atlanta isn't always the rowdiest of crowds and they didn't really help matters for this match along with much of the whole card. Punk managed to squeak in a nice amount of offense but Ryback looked to be too much for him and as Ryback tried to end the match with a Shell Shocked, the referee stood in his way. The referee, who later was revealed to be Brad Maddox, low blowed Ryback and assisted Punk in making a fast count for the win. Afterwards, Punk and Maddox try to exit but Ryback stops them and destroys the two in their tracks. He then took chased Punk to the top of the cage and hit a Shell Shocked to close the show. I guess if they were going to do a funny finish for the match, this was the way to go considering Ryback was so hot and they didn't want him to eat the pin. Even still, a very bland main event for a pretty bland night.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: **1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The event featured a couple bright spots with the World Heavyweight Championship match standing out the most. However, the rest of the card and the main event did not deliver on any promises. As I mentioned earlier, the fall of 2012 saw a very slim roster for the WWE until The Shield would make their debut a month later. October PPVs always seem to hit a rut for me and this is no different.
Rating: 5/10
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